Digimon Cross Tamers 01
by sour gummies
Summary: X-1: Bottled Children. Tadashi Noda, a bright eleven-year-old living near an air base in Okinawa, finds himself inexplicably tangled in the affairs of another world upon receiving a strange digital device from a total stranger. And he's not alone...


a/n: this is my first time writing _Digimon_ fic, and also my first time tackling an 'episodic' fic: meaning, longer chapters and slower updates. even though the characters in this fic are all original, I'm trying to keep this largely in the spirit of other _Digimon_ series and would really appreciate any feedback I can get - _especially_ on a handful of specific issues. for one, I don't know if I made the right choice deciding to include the honorifics the characters use to speak to one another, since this is obviously a story written in English. I'm not going to include any random Japanese words if I can avoid it, but I felt like it was important to distinguish how the characters referred to one another at least the first time they speak, and there's no English equivalent for honorifics. even so, I'll try to keep them to a minimum.

(I may or may not eventually post a more "Americanized" version of this fic on a separate account at Archive of Our Own at some point, featuring the English names for Digimon and attacks instead of the Japanese ones I'm planning to use here. if I do so, that version will be written without including honorifics.)

anyway, I've never been to Japan, and therefore, I've obviously got no firsthand knowledge of the Okinawa Prefecture. so if my descriptions of the area (or any of my descriptions, actually) contradict what life is actually like in Japan, please please please let me know so I can fix it. thanks.

* * *

><p><strong>Digimon Cross-Tamers 01<strong>

_X-1: Bottled Children_

"Prologue".

So close. So close!

Watering eyes fixated on the clock at the front of the room, Tadashi Noda bit his lip in frustration, gripping the sides of his desk with both hands. There was less than a minute left of afternoon class, and, impatient by nature, Tadashi was having a hard time sitting still to wait out the remainder of the school day. The seconds were hours.

At the front of the room, the teacher continued to lecture, either unaware or apathetic to the fact that there wasn't much time left to wrap up the discussion sensibly. He'd probably end up getting cut off by the bell; it had happened before. Either way, Tadashi wasn't paying any attention—he was a bright student, doing well on tests and examinations, but he often had just a _little_ trouble keeping up with what was actually going on in class. Especially toward the end of the day.

Oblivious to the rustling sounds and murmurs of children packing their belongings and preparing to go home, the teacher kept talking, voice depressingly monotonous. "…And then, finally, in 1946, the United States military financed the creation of a machine that was a precursor to much of our digital technology in the modern world. This machine, called 'ENIAC,' was the world's first—"

The bell rang. Tadashi leapt to his feet immediately, starting for the door, and he heard many of his classmates begin to laugh as they stood and (much more calmly) left their own seats.

"…Have a good afternoon," Ohtani-sensei told them all dully, not seeming at all bothered that his lecture had been interrupted. Tadashi called a hasty good-bye over his shoulder and raced out into the hallway, heading for the school's exit at just short of a run while other students began to slowly file out of their own classrooms.

Moving quickly, Tadashi waved at a few people he recognized in passing, not standing still long enough to catch more than a few snatches of conversation as he went. He passed another fifth-grade classroom right as a handful of girls his age were emerging, talking agitatedly among themselves.

"…But nobody we know, right?" one said urgently, blue eyes wide and concerned.

"Of course not," replied a second girl haughtily, tugging on the arm of another friend. "That sort of thing would never happen _here_—right, Eiko-chan?"

The third girl, Eiko, didn't answer right away, thoughtfully twirling a lock of dark green hair between her fingers. "Well…"

Tadashi raced ahead of them, passing the girls and leaving the conversation behind without another thought. He was distracted by his own plans for the afternoon: _Better hurry. Akio and Jasper will already be waiting for me by now…_

Pulling out his cell phone and turning it on, Tadashi spared a quick glance down at the screen to check the time. He immediately did double take, however, stopping in his tracks in the middle of the hallway, mindless of the other students milling about around him. Something was wrong with his phone.

"What's this?" Tadashi asked aloud, confused, staring down at the jumble of scattered letters and numbers that greeted him from the screen. "Did I sit on it?"

He pressed a few buttons at random, hoping that it would return the screen to normal. The first two attempts yielded no results, and the third time he tried, the screen abruptly went black.

"That's not good," Tadashi muttered, resignedly putting the phone away again in his backpack. He'd have to ask his father about it later. "Oh well. No use worrying about it now."

He began to walk briskly again, smile returning as he finally reached the doors of the building and went outside. He allowed himself to break into a jog, resisting the urge to sprint and waste all his energy as he headed toward the residential district where he lived near the Kadena Air Base. The winter weather in Okinawa was mild this year, and Tadashi moved quickly enough to keep warm in his school uniform, his satchel backpack bouncing lightly behind him as he ran.

Completely caught up in his plans for the afternoon, Tadashi didn't notice a tall figure watching him from a bench across the street, brown eyes narrowed and calculating. The figure cast a quick look around to make sure nobody was watching, then slowly stood and began to move, disappearing into the street traffic without a word as soon as Tadashi was out of sight.

—

Tadashi was still in a hurry by the time he reached home, nearly forgetting to kick off his shoes as he ran in—and even then, he only did it out of habit. The apartment was dark and neat, with an air of being somewhat uninhabited much of the time. Tadashi's father was a man of few belongings, and even the ones he had were always meticulously organized. Tadashi kept most of his things in his room out of sight.

The eleven-year-old didn't spare a second glance to the entryway as he entered, nor the sitting room or the kitchen, but instead headed directly toward the hallway that lead to his room. If he'd looked, he might have noticed that the electronics in his home were all acting a bit…strange. None of the clocks on the wall, or those embedded in other appliances, were displaying the correct time, merely blinking on and off. Both the TV and computer screens were dim, and glitching heavily with garbled images.

Oblivious, Tadashi reached his room and quickly opened the door to go in, scrambling to get his things together for the afternoon. He wasted no time removing all the books and papers from his backpack, replacing them with a hastily assembled change of clothes for cram school, including his uniform swimwear. That done, he walked over to the space beside his bed, smiling faintly as he picked up a well-worn set of tennis rackets encased in a leather sleeve propped up against the wall.

_Is that everything?_ he mused to himself, glancing around. His room was a bit messier now than when he'd come in, but it hardly mattered. His father likely wouldn't notice, and if he did, Tadashi didn't have a problem cleaning up when he got home. _Guess so._

Satisfied that he'd gotten everything he needed, Tadashi began to walk back toward the door of his room to leave. But then he paused, catching sight of something on the dresser, and let out a quick laugh.

"Can't forget these," he chided himself, picking up the goggles from where they lay sprawled out among his scattered papers and toys. Snapping them on his forehead so he wouldn't lose them, Tadashi adjusted the goggles over his light brown hair and finally left his room, walking back out to the door of the apartment so he could leave. He didn't want to be any later than he already was.

—

Though fairly in-shape for a child his age, Tadashi was nonetheless gasping for air by the time he finally reached the Kadena Air Base some fifteen minutes later. He'd run almost the whole way, aware, despite not checking the clock, that his friends must have been waiting on him for at least a little while by now. He waved to the stationed guards in passing, not stopping to acknowledge the soldiers nodding at him in turn—most of them recognized Tadashi by now.

Feeling like his lungs might burst, the boy ran until he reached the gymnasium where he'd promised to meet his friends, bursting loudly through the double doors and rushing out onto the basketball court inside. Kadena Air Base didn't have an open tennis court they could use, as far as Tadashi knew, but this served their purposes fine.

"Here! I'm here, I'm here!" he called out, doubling over to catch his breath.

Behind him, Tadashi heard sounds of laughter. He spun around, straightening, and was greeted by a set of familiar faces—Akio and Jasper, his best friends.

"About time you showed up," cackled the former, walking forward to punch Tadashi lightly in the arm. "Forget about us, Noda-kun?"

"Don't 'Noda-kun' me," Tadashi countered, grinning despite himself. He'd known Akio since kindergarten, and the black-haired, dark-eyed boy had been acerbic even then. "Sorry I'm late. I had to head home after class to get some stuff for cram school."

"It's fine, Tadashi," said the second boy, waving off the explanation as unnecessary despite Akio's protests. Though his accent didn't betray it, freckled, sandy-haired Jasper was an American military brat, who had come to live in Okinawa with his parents only four years ago. Tadashi's father had been Jasper's first Japanese language teacher, at the DoDDS school he attended on the air base.

Grinning, Tadashi held up his tennis rackets for them to see. "Who wants to play first?" he asked.

The other two glanced at each other, then back at him. "I'll go," said Akio, eyes gleaming in challenge. "As payback for making us worry about you! We thought you'd gone and become the newest member of the Okinawa Five."

Tadashi's smile faded. The 'Okinawa Five' was the nickname for a group of children from around the local prefecture, who had disappeared one by one over the past two years without any warning or hints at all as to their whereabouts. None of the missing kids had seemed to be related in any way, and despite the rising hysteria of distraught parents and other concerned members of the community, nobody seemed to have even the faintest idea of where they could have gone.

Tadashi examined his friends again, more closely this time. Akio's smile was strained, now, and Jasper was biting his lip, hands fidgeting. They'd really been worried about him.

"I'm sorry," Tadashi said, genuinely. "I promise I'm okay. I'm not going to disappear."

"Of—Of course not!" Akio said, going a bit red in the face as he held up one of the tennis rackets and a ball. "We were just joking about it! Now let's play!"

Tadashi laughed again, heading to the opposite side of the court. Jasper remained at the center, giving them the thumbs up to let them know he was ready to keep score.

"I won't lose!" Tadashi shouted with a grin, readying his stance as Akio tossed up the ball and made the first serve of the match.

—

About an hour or so later, Tadashi bid his friends a hurried goodbye, sprinting out the gymnasium and away from the air base so he could make it to cram school on time. He'd get in trouble if he were late for his swimming lesson.

The streets were bustling with adults and busy people, none of whom spared him any attention as he ran by. They seemed preoccupied with their own dilemmas, some tapping at their cell phones in frustration, others honking car horns on the street. The traffic lights had all gone out, blinking unhelpfully in unison, and there was chaos among the disgruntled drivers trying to get home from work.

Tadashi hardly noticed any of this. He was still wrapped up in his thoughts from earlier that afternoon. He'd seen the news reports, of course, but it hadn't occurred much to him to feel worried, even though one of the children had disappeared hardly two weeks ago. The routes he walked to get to school and the air base seemed safe enough to him. And his father hadn't mentioned anything about it.

_I guess he hasn't really been home much __**to**__ say anything_, Tadashi thought absently, jogging up to the doors of his cram school and letting himself inside. Some of the academic students were studying on benches near the door, and Tadashi silently gave thanks that he didn't have to come here to learn any more than he did at elementary school. His grades were fine without the extra help.

Heading to the pool area, he waved briefly to his swim instructor and headed for the bathroom, already unzipping his bag. Once inside, he quickly pulled off his school clothes and changed into the swim gear he'd brought, ignoring the murmuring voices of other children around him.

"—Mom's been telling me to go home with a friend after lessons, so she can pick me up later—"

"—kind of worried. It just doesn't feel _safe_ around here anymore—"

"—laptop's been going crazy all day, I can't get anything done—"

Tadashi walked out. Most of the others in his swim lesson were already dressed and waiting by the pool for instructions from the teacher. Tadashi walked to stand beside them, still pondering, although not exactly worried. He mostly felt bad for the people whose children or friends had gone missing.

Eventually, the instructor approached, and Tadashi pulled his goggles over his eyes in preparation to jump into the pool. Many of the other children did the same.

"Good to see all of you," the instructor said warmly, addressing them as a group. "I hope you're being careful and aware of your surroundings when you come to class every day? You can't be too careful. Now: let's start with a series of quick warm-ups…"

—

Dusk had arrived by the time Tadashi left the school, sunset bathing the storefronts in orange-yellow light. The fading sun warmed the damp clothes he'd changed into after the lesson: a dark blue shirt with gray trim, brown cargo shorts, and sneakers. He still had his goggles on.

The boy walked at a comfortable pace, mostly staring at the ground in front of him, not thinking hard about anything in particular or paying attention to his surroundings. The street was quiet, nearly devoid of activity, though Tadashi knew just how busy it could get during the business hours of the day. The signs in the store windows he passed featured lettering in both Japanese and English, mostly as a courtesy to the many tourists and foreign military personnel who frequented the shops here. He was used to all of it; had, in fact, grown up with these surroundings exactly as they were now. Nothing he saw was in any way unusual to him. Despite the prickling anxiety he'd experienced before, Tadashi now felt completely at home and at peace.

"Hey."

Tadashi blinked in surprise, not expecting the greeting. He stopped mid-stride and looked up from the ground, glancing around for whoever it was that had spoken. Directly ahead of him, there was a man he'd never seen before, standing slouched against the window of a small electronics store.

The man didn't turn to look as Tadashi stared at him, but didn't hesitate to call out again, either. "Hey, kid. Do you have a minute?"

It was a moment before Tadashi responded, still staring blankly at the man. The boy had an odd feeling of déjà vu, almost like he'd seen this man somewhere before, although he knew he hadn't. "Uh…sure. What is it?"

The man didn't immediately say anything, and for a moment Tadashi thought he wasn't going to. The stranger was tall and rangy, at least in his mid-twenties, with untamed brown hair that nearly reached his shoulders. He wore a plain white shirt and black slacks with a loosened tie, ordinary working clothes that looked very ill-suited for him.

Tadashi was about to ask again when the man finally spoke, his voice sounding distracted, or unhappy, or…something. "Tell me, kid," he said. "What do you know about 'data'?"

Tadashi blinked again. Of all the questions the man might have asked, he hadn't been expecting that. Tadashi was used to directing lost tourists or military newcomers to nearby destinations, mostly foreigners who weren't familiar with navigating Okinawa roads or even Japan in general. This man didn't look at all like an American, although somehow Tadashi instinctively knew that he wasn't from nearby.

Wherever the man was from, what sort of question was that to ask a stranger? "…Data, sir?"

The man nodded, still staring dead ahead. His arms were folded, like there was something weighing heavily on his mind. "Yes, 'data.' The evidence of our dealings in the digital age."

Tadashi thought. He was still puzzled by the question, and why the man might have asked it, but he wanted to do his best to answer the stranger to the best of his ability. "Well, data is what's stored in computers, isn't it? We create it when we want to make new electronics, or have memory in a device."

This answer didn't seem to upset or please the man in the slightest. He continued to stand in the same bothered manner as before. "That's one way of looking at it. But to _you_: is data only what inhabits the computers here, in our human world? Or do you think it might have another purpose?"

Tadashi was becoming nervous. The peace and contentment he'd felt only a few minutes ago were gone, replaced by bewilderment and the beginnings of suspicion. What was this man getting at? His words didn't make any sense.

"I don't know, sir," the boy said truthfully, shuffling his feet on the ground awkwardly. He wished the man hadn't spoken to him, although he had to admit he _was_ a little curious about where this might be going. Data…

To his surprise, however, the man seemed content to drop the point. "Never mind, then. There'll be enough of that later, I guess."

"Later?"

The man still wasn't looking at Tadashi. His expression was distant, staring off into a point in the sky over the line of store rooftops across the street. "Living out here by an American military base…surely you must have a few Western friends. Don't you, Tadashi?"

Tadashi suddenly felt cold. "How do you know my name?"

The man didn't answer, closing his eyes with a sigh. "In the West, they have an old expression, about what happens when people meet one another. It's called 'crossing paths.'"

The last part was spoken in English, pronunciation languid but clear. At last, the man finally turned to look at Tadashi, smiling. "Have you heard that expression before? Do you think that's what's happening to us right now?"

Tadashi unconsciously took a step away, trying to think of a polite way to end the conversation. He didn't want to hurt the man's feelings, but he didn't want to stick around, either. The hairs on the back of his neck were prickling uncomfortably: something about this man just didn't seem _right_. He wanted to leave. "Um…sir? I'm sorry, but I think I ought to…"

The man held up a hand to silence him, shaking his head. He was still smiling, and Tadashi could finally see his eyes, which were a deep brown. "Don't worry, Tadashi," the man said, sounding amused and…something else. "I won't take up any more of your time. We mustn't be in the same place for too long, you know."

Tadashi swallowed nervously. This man seemed to know entirely too much about him—about his life, his friends, where he lived. Tadashi knew he'd never seen him before in his life. "But I still don't know how you—"

"Enough."

The man began to walk forward, suddenly looking very focused, and Tadashi stepped back again, heart hammering. What did the man want from him?

_Disappearing children_, Akio's voice murmured warningly in the back of his mind.

The man didn't take heed of Tadashi trying to back away, only coming closer, and when Tadashi turned his back at the last minute to try and run, he suddenly felt a hand clamped around his wrist in a vicegrip.

"Don't go yet. Stay," the man said, voice low and—something. He sounded upset, or, sad, or—or something. Pleading. Resigned? _Guilty_. "Just a moment longer."

"Let go of me!" Tadashi shouted, no longer caring about being polite. He refused to turn around to face the man again, trying to jerk his arm away in panic, but then suddenly he felt something being pressed into his hand.

"I'm not the only one whose path you're destined to cross, Tadashi," the man's voice said. Tadashi froze, and behind him the stranger let out a short, breathless laugh. "Actually, never mind. Forget I said that. Destiny has no role to play here. Not for you."

Tadashi could hear his heart pounding in his ears. "Who are you?" he asked, voice shaking.

The man didn't laugh again. When he spoke next, his voice was surprisingly gentle. "Make your own miracles, Tadashi."

And then, without any warning, the grip on Tadashi's hand was suddenly gone.

The boy whipped around, eyes wide. There was nobody behind him, nobody else on the street with him; the strange man had vanished so quickly it was like he'd never been there in the first place.

Were it not for the unfamiliar object in his hand, Tadashi might have believed the encounter to be a dream.

Belatedly, he looked down to inspect the strange device, wondering what on earth it could be. It was a digital gadget of some sort, made of sleek white plastic, and it had a few small unlabeled buttons on each side. At the center was a small, dark screen, surrounded by a circle of symbols Tadashi didn't recognize. The device fit perfectly in his hand.

"What's this?" he asked, completely bewildered. "Why give me this?"

Immediately—as if on cue—the device began to glow.

—

Miles away, a girl with a serious expression sat huddled and alone, with her arms wrapped around her knees, waiting motionlessly on the rooftop of a city apartment building. She wore sensible clothes, a warm gray hooded sweatshirt paired with sturdy jeans, and her pale brown hair stuck out from beneath a blue winter hat. There was a bulky-looking backpack resting at her side, stuffed with food and clothes.

Something in her hand began to glow. Standing, the girl examined the device she was holding with determined interest, pulling her backpack on. She looked around, searching for something, anything, a sign—and then her eyes finally caught on a strange, bright spot of light appearing in the sky above.

"I'm coming to end this, Junya," she said quietly, holding the device as high above her head as she could reach, reaching out toward the light.

—

Far away, another boy sat with his back pressed against a tree trunk, dark eyes open but not focused on anything nearby in the surrounding woods. His legs were crossed in front of him, one foot tapping a soundless rhythm in the air. It was plain to see that he was uneasy.

Beside him in the dirt, another digital device began to glow, matching a white light that had appeared in the distant sky above the treetops. The boy hesitated, looking over at the gadget on ground, and waited a moment before picking it up, seeming almost afraid of what might happen if he did. He was wearing a loose jacket, but the boy shivered nonetheless as a gust of wind blew unexpectedly through the forest, scattering leaves all around and ruffling the dark blue hair around his face.

"So it's true," he said, tone somewhat anxious, but also strangely reverent. The boy held the device up to his face, peering closely at the glowing runes inscribed around the center.

"I guess it's time to go."

—

Back on the street near the air base, Tadashi gaped, staring dumbly at the glowing device in his hands. It was glowing. Glowing! The screen at the center had lit up to pure white, and the surrounding plastic was shimmering as well, emanating light and warmth. The sky was rapidly darkening, making the device stand out that much more brightly against the shadows on the street.

"I don't believe this," Tadashi gasped, looking up to see if there was anyone else nearby to notice. If someone else could see this strange thing, maybe it would mean he wasn't going crazy?

He hadn't expected to see anyone immediately—the street had been empty only moments ago—but as he glanced around, Tadashi caught sight of a girl running toward him from the opposite end, practically stumbling over her own feet in a desperate attempt to move faster. He couldn't place her immediately, but she looked very familiar, with dark green hair tied up in a ponytail, strands of it whipping about her face freely as she ran.

"Are you okay?" Tadashi called out, alarmed. She looked terrified. Was someone chasing her? His eyes suddenly widened as he got a better look, catching sight of something glowing brightly in the girl's hand. It was too far away to see clearly, but he was immediately sure of what it was: she had another digital device like his.

"Hey, that's—!" he began, but before he could get any further the girl's voice cut him off.

"Noda-kun!" she screamed, still racing toward him. "Noda-kun, the sky! Look at the _sky!_"

Startled, Tadashi obeyed, then gasped in shock. In the sky far above his head, there was an enormous glowing sphere of pure white light spinning about like a loosened ball of yarn, with glowing strands spinning out from the main body in the surrounding air. It was hard to see, but if Tadashi didn't know better, he'd say that the strands looked like they were made purely of _numbers_, numbers and coding, but—but that was impossible, wasn't it? Wasn't it?

_Data_, the stranger's voice repeated in his mind, unbidden.

"What _is_ that thing?" Tadashi asked, taking an involuntary step back. The device in his hand suddenly let out a high-pitched whine, resisting his attempts to draw it away from the light-sphere in the sky. It was a sensation like trying to pull a scrap of metal away from a strong magnet.

Ahead of him, the girl was still running, her shoes pounding heavily against the pavement. When Tadashi finally pulled his gaze away from the sphere of light to look at her, he saw that her face was completely terror-stricken. "Not yet!" she shouted. "Please, _please_ don't go yet! Not without me!"

"Go?" he asked, taking another step toward her, but before he could move any farther, the light in the sky _pulsed_, growing intensely brighter. Tadashi looked up at it reflexively, eyes widening, and as he watched, the glowing sphere began to expand in all directions. The light was coming down toward him, and quickly.

"_Wait!_" the girl shrieked, half-tripping over a break in the sidewalk, but refusing to stop, running twice as hard to make up for the lost time. "You can't! You can't go without me!"

Tadashi tried to shout that he wouldn't leave, that he wasn't going anywhere, but the device in his hand suddenly jerked upward of its own accord, pulling his arm above him into the air, toward the light-sphere. It was expanding faster now, the light getting closer every second—the storefront windows around him all reflected the eerie brightness, making it painful for Tadashi to keep his eyes open. When he tried to let go of the device, he found he couldn't, nor could he pull it back.

"What is this?" he shouted, throwing his free arm over his face to block out the painful intensity of the light. It was so close—ten more seconds and it would envelop him completely. He could already tell there was no point trying to run.

"Just hang on!" the girl shouted, directly ahead of him, and she was nearly as close to Tadashi now as the encroaching sphere of light. "We'll go together!"

Tadashi didn't understand. "Go? Go _where_?" he shouted back, struggling to see anything in the blinding radiance all around them.

With only seconds to spare, the girl finally reached him with a cry of relief, seizing Tadashi's free hand in her own as though her life depended on it. Up close, Tadashi could see that both their digital devices were going berserk, spewing a torrent of noise and light, while pulling inexorably up toward the sky. The girl was grasping his hand so tightly that it nearly hurt, but there was no time to wonder about it: in another instant the spreading light had raced forward and swallowed them both.

_"To the Digital World!"_


End file.
